Rolling Stones – Ultra Rare Bangs

DISC 1 (72:55):  1. Start Me Up (Grand Stage, Shanghai, China 8th April 2006) 2. Shattered (Fenway Park, Boston, MA. USA 21st August 2005) 3. Let’s Spend The Night Together (Qwest Field, Seattle, WA. USA 17th  October 2006) 4. Sweet Virginia (Scott Stadium, Charlottesville, VA. USA 6th October 2005) 5. Dead Flowers (Churchill Downs, Louisville, KY. USA 29th September 2006) 6. Rain Fall Down (Pepsi Center, Denver, CO. USA 24th November 2005) 7. Back Of My Hand (Fenway Park, Boston, MA. USA 21st August 2005) 8. Angie (Westpac Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand 18th April 2006) 9. Co Le Mie Lacrime (Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, San Siro, Milan, Italy 11th July 2006) 10. Gimme Shelter (Madison Square Garden, New York, USA 18th January 2006) 11. I’ll Go Crazy (Jaz Beach, Budva, Montenegro 9th July 2007) 12. It Won’t Take Long (PETCO Park, San Diego, CA. USA 11th November 2005) 13. Rocks Off (Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark 5th August 2007) 14. Waiting On A Friend (Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI. USA 8th September 2005) 15. This Place Is Empty (River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina 21st February 2006) 16. Infamy (Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA. USA 8th November 2005)  

DISC 2 (72:52):  1. Oh No, Not You Again (Key Arena, Seattle, WA. USA 30th October 2005) 2. Heartbreaker (Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ. USA 15th September 2005) 3. She Was Hot (The O2 Arena, London, UK 26th August 2007) 4. It’s All Over Now (Werchter Park, Werchter, Belgium 5th June 2007) 5. Rough Justice (Comerica Park, Detroit, MI. USA 31st August 2005) 6. Jumping Jack Flash (Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 18th February 2006) 7. Monkey Man (Tour Rehearsals, Brussels, Belgium 1st June 2007) 8. Love Is Strong (Outdoor Exhibition Centre, Brno, Czech Republic 22nd July 2007) 9. Midnight Rambler (PETCO Park, San Diego, CA. USA 11th November 2005) 10. Sway (Hampden Park, Glasgow, UK 25th August 2006) 11. Sympathy For The Devil (Isle Of Wight, UK 10th June 2007) 12. Paint It Black (Forum Horsens, Horsens, Denmark 3rd September 2006) 13. Brown Sugar (Saitama Super Aren, Saitama, Japan 2nd April 2006) 14. Satisfaction (River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aries, Argentina 21st February 2006)

*  Track 1-13 of Disc 1 & Track 1-4, 6-10, 12-14 of Disc 2 are taken from the RS.com Virtual Ticket Videos

“Ultra Rare Bangs” is a no-label 2 CD collection of tracks from the Stones 2005-2007 “A Bigger Bang World Tour” in primarily stereo soundboard fidelity. Ten of these tracks make their initial debut on original silver label issue to the best of my knowledge and they are tracks 3, 6, 8, 11 13 + 14 from Disc 1 and tracks 1, 5, 11 + 12 from Disc 2.

“Start Me Up” kicks off some bright sounding vocals and off key guitar riffs from Richards. I sometimes wonder now if those sour notes are purposeful to take the edge off of Jagger’s intended sweet production. Jagger’s voice is strong and melodically sharp as a tack on “Let’s Spend The Night Together”. This is a rather interesting rendition as he keeps repeating the chorus of “Together Now’ quite a number of times giving the song a pleasurably  different twist. “Sweet Virginia” was  a pleasant unplugged version. “Dead Flowers”, in great sound reproduction, was a fine and ever steady aggressive rendition. “Rain Fall Down” reminded me of “Fingerprint File” and offered a very interesting ending. The Stones really let it out on “Back Of My Hand” with ferocious jamming on this great recording. It was nice to have back to back newer tracks here. A nice transition with “Angie” followed in a splendid soundboard source. “Con Le Mie Lacrime” slowed the tempo down even further as the Italian version of the melodic “As Tears Go By”.  Lisa Fischer was unrestrained in “Gimme Shelter” with her all to frequent tendency to take over the song instead of subtly complementing Jagger as Merry Clayton did for the original studio track. Fischer seems hell bent on engaging in vocal arpeggios instead of focusing on what her actual contribution to this track should entail. This 7:03 Stones rendition performed at MSG, however, was strong none the less.

The Stones played “It Won’t Take Long”, a rare live offering of this great track. “Rocks Off” was loud but abrasive sounding. “Waiting For A Friend” was an extremely soothing and subdued performance. “This Place Is Empty” was a great audience recording followed by “Infamy” representing the 2nd successive new tracks paired one after the other to close out the first disc.

Disc 2 started with another new track, “Oh No, Not You Again” and then a solid rendition of “Heartbreaker”. An always welcome nugget, “She Was Hot”, only recently unearthed, followed. An excellent audience recording of the 7th and final new track in this 2 CD collection, “Rough Justice”, had the audience at fever pitch.  “Monkey Man”, surprisingly, hails from the 6-1-07 Belgium Tour Rehearsals. The Rattle Snake label has issued four 2 CD sets of original silver label issue of complete Stones concerts from the above “A Bigger Bang World Tour” with each of those 2 CD sets including an average of about 30 minutes worth of bonus material. [RS 210/11/212/13/214/15/218/19]. The generous bonus well recorded material on these four 2 CD sets covers the final dress rehearsals from Werchter on June 4th 2007, dress rehearsals from Vilvoorde, Belgium on may 29th 2007, and rehearsals at the Video House, Vilvoorde, Belgium from May 28th + 29th 2007.

The track sequencing on “Ultra Rare Bangs” flows nicely. This release certainly lives up to its billing as, again, 10 of the tracks have not been available for public consumption on original silver label issue. This collection also offers a host of rarely played live material and represents a solid gathering of tracks that the Stones performed for their mammoth and highly successful “A Bigger Bang World Tour”.